Out of newspapers, but still making headlines

Former editor and publisher Nanya Friend leads a mini-seminar with Daily Mail copy editors on headline writing on Sunday.

This is Nanya Friend, former editor and publisher of the Daily Mail, who announced her retirement about this time last year.

Hers was one of a slew of retirements we experienced in 2013 — George Hohmann, business editor; Hanna Maurice, editorial page editor; Cheryl Caswell, court reporter; and Monica Orosz, features editor.

Their combined years of newsroom experience tallied well over a century and left those who remained to carry on wondering how we were going to make up for the loss of so much institutional and professional knowledge.

Luckily, none of them retired away from the area. And even more so, they’re still helping us.

From supplying emergency food supplies at the start of the winter water crisis to leaving stores of over-the-counter medications — antacids, pain relievers and such — they’ve continued to keep the newsroom fortified and fit. (George even continues to employ his ace reporting skills as a freelancer covering local city council meetings for us.)

Nanya was kind enough to share with our copy editors her time and wisdom in a headline writing seminar this Sunday. She passed along not only tips for writing good headlines, but her own opinions on what works and what doesn’t and why. (As I later told our copydesk staffers who hadn’t worked with her, “Now you know why we’re the way we are.”)

I told her afterward that she and our former managing editor, the late, great Bob Kelly, cast long shadows in our office and that we often wonder to ourselves what they would do in certain situations.

Truth be told, as the latest occupant of Bob’s office, I still talk to him, bemoaning the state of the world and the industry and asking for clues to life’s puzzles.

But I’m glad to know that the rest of our predecessors are still just a phone call, email or text message away for advice and, in the case of this weekend, real, practical lessons.

While it’s not in the direct, daily contact we enjoyed while they still worked with us, we continue to learn from them in the hopes of carrying on the legacy of excellence that they left us.

Author: I’m the managing editor and design editor for the Charleston Daily Mail. I was raised in Beckley and graduated with two degrees from West Virginia University. I live with my wife, two kids and a cat in Charleston. I’m a terrible, terrible homeowner. Read more from this author